Chapter 21

Sneaking out of the Rowan Castle was always tricky. It wouldn't have been possible at all if I hadn't mastered that magically undetectable invisibility spell last quarter. Of course, the Master level wizards could still detect me, as well as a few of the higher level journeymen, but it wasn't them I was trying to hide from. It was my own level, the 12th level apprentices, I was worried about.

The hall was dark at this hour, dark and empty. No one wanted to waste magic or oil lighting a rarely used hallway at midnight. The carpeted floor muffled my footsteps, and the tapestries on the wall absorbed what was left of the sound.

It was hard to move when I couldn't see myself. Several times, I almost tripped over my own feet. Also, the invisibility spell burned power very quickly. It would be worth it, though, if I could get out of the castle without being spotted by Trevor or any of his lackeys. Worth it a thousand times over. If Trevor ever found out about Dereck, my vulnerable, non-wizard, lover, he'd kill the poor shepherd in a heartbeat. Kill him, and make it look like an accident, or like I myself were responsible. He was good at that sort of thing.

I seethed inside. One of the ancient duties of the Order of Wizardry was to protect the kingdom of Kerath from demons, and what did Trevor do? He summoned one. Worse, he convinced the Masters that this was a good idea, that demons could be useful, and that controlling a demon would be good practice for young wizards. Now, only a few apprentices didn't have demons. I was one of them, of course, the only apprentice of the 12th level to abstain from summoning after all I had my brother sent to hell, just so that I could bring him back in time, when I needed him. Now the other apprentices looked down their noses at me, even the ones of lower levels, looked down on me for being weak when I was the strongest wizard of my level. It irked me. I wasn't weak. I just had principles. Unlike Trevor.

I suspected Trevor of killing several other high level apprentices, rivals of his. I also suspected him of several attempts on my own life. I couldn't prove anything, of course. Trevor was too sneaky, and the Masters tended to look the other way when it came to apprentices killing other apprentices, seeing it as a way to weed out the weak and stupid before the Trials.

Ah, the Trials. I smiled wryly. The Trials were almost the only way for a 12th level apprentice to move up a level, and become a 1st level journeyman. During the trials, which were, of course, entirely voluntary, each apprentice wishing to move up to journeyman dueled to the death with another apprentice. This, in theory, ensured that only the strongest wizards became journeymen. It was well known that the Masters intended to have me duel Trevor. That was probably why he'd been so persistent in the attempts on my life. He knew that the only way he would survive the trials would be to kill me before they occurred, so he could duel with someone he might actually win against.

I was almost out of the castle now. All I needed to do was get past the outer door. Fortunately, I'd planned for this.

Humming happily, arms full of flowers and herbs, Marian, 11th level apprentice and my best friend, opened the door. As she entered the castle, I slipped out.

"Have fun," whispered Marian as she passed.

I smiled. Yes, I would have fun.

I made my way to the stables and saddled my gelding. Making him as well as myself invisible would take a lot out of me, but, fortunately, I would only need to do it for a little while. Just until we reached the first line of houses in the village, and were out of sight of the castle.

A few minutes later, I smiled and dropped the invisibility spell. The ending of the steady drain on my magical reserves, as well as the mental effort of holding it in place, was a relief. I leaned back in my saddle, dropping my guard in a way I would never be able to at the castle, and imagined my evening with Dereck.

When I knocked on the door he would open it immediately, and then, after blushing and assuring me he hadn't been standing there waiting for me, he would sweep me off my feet and carry me to the bedroom. Then he would lay me down reverently on the bed. It wasn't really large enough, or sturdy enough, for two but we'd always managed before. It meant we couldn't lie side by side, though. We always had to be right on top of each other.

He would kiss me deeply, and then bend to nibble my neck. After covering it with red love marks, he would suck on my nipples to make them nice and hard, and then nibble on them, too. I would flip him over onto his back, carefully, so as not to collapse the bed, and undo the fastenings on his pants. As his hardening cock burst free, I would lick the head of it, and then take it all the way in my mouth, sucking on him until he pushed me away and flipped me over so he could get at my pants. He would pull them down just enough to reveal my pussy.

Already wet, I would gasp as his finger entered me. He would push it in as deep as it could go, and then pull it out, rubbing my insides on the way and making me moan. As he worked his finger inside me, he would bring his mouth to my clit. As his tongue flicked out to touch it, I would whimper, and them grab him by the hair and bring his mouth up to mine, so I could taste my own juices. He would laugh, and pull away so he could lick my clit some more. One finger in my pussy would become two, and then three. Three fingers, rubbing my insides hard, would excite me to the point that I just wouldn't be able to stand it any longer. I would yank his head away from my pussy again, and pull his fingers out.

He would smile in understanding, and move up my body until he looked me in the eyes, and his huge, hard cock was lined up with my soaking wet pussy. And then...

I smiled. I didn't need to imagine it any longer; I was here.

Dereck's shepherd's shelter was just beyond the edge of the village surrounding and providing for Rowan Castle. It was small, but cozy. I dismounted, cared for my horse, and knocked on the door.

It took awhile for Dereck to get to the door. A long while, considering how small his little house was. I frowned, and was considering checking the outhouse when the door finally opened.

I smiled. "Dereck!"

He frowned back. "Elise. Come in. We need to talk."

As I settled myself in a chair, he paced in front of the fireplace.

"Come on, sit down," I told him, patting my knee.

"No. I think I'd rather stand," Dereck said.

I sighed. "What's wrong?"

He picked up the kettle. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"No," I replied.

"Some milk, maybe? Water?" He was fidgeting with the kettle now, shifting it from hand to hand.

"No! Damn it, I want to know what's wrong," I snapped, having no patience with prevarication. "Is it your dad's back again? Do you need money?"

He sighed. "No. Although, what you said is part of the problem. Elise, I think we need to stop seeing each other."

"What?" I had never expected this.

"I think we need to stop seeing each other," he repeated, looking down at his feet.

"I heard you the first time. What I want to know is why," I said. "Am I too demanding? Is that it?" I bit my lip. "I can stop, if you want."

He shook his head. "I love that in you, Elise. You know I do."

"Then why?" I held back tears. It was dangerous to show weakness.

He sighed again. "Haven't you wondered, these past few months, if what we're doing is right?"

I reached out to touch his thigh. "What do you mean? Doesn't it... Don't we feel right to you?"

He shifted out of my reach, almost ending up in the fireplace. "That's not it. The... The sex is great. Really. I love it. And... And I love you. I do, I really do. It's just that... Well..."

"Well what?" Remembering that, for now, I wasn't in the castle, I let the tears stream down my cheeks.

"Like should marry like. That's all." He looked up at me. "And we aren't alike."

I shook my head. "I'm no different from you, Dereck."

"You live in a castle! I live," he said as he gestured around the room, "In this hovel. How can you say we aren't different?"

"It's not a hovel. And, if you want to live somewhere else, I can-"

He cut me off. "That's the problem. You have money. You have influence. I don't. Like should marry like."

"You keep saying that," I said, "But I was born to a farming family, same as you, and if I hadn't been born with magic-"

"But you were born with magic," he said. "And that changes everything."

"It changes nothing!" I retorted. "What a person is capable of doesn't define who they are."

"If that's true," he said, slowly, "Why do we always meet here? Why not in your rooms in Rowan Castle?''

I shook my head. "Because it's dangerous. If another wizard found out about you... We're taking a risk even meeting at your place! You know that. But, if it's really bothering you, I suppose I could sneak you in." I looked up at him beseechingly. "Please, don't do this."

He sighed. "I'm sorry. But like I said, like should be with like. That's all there is to it."

"Wizards aren't allowed to marry wizards," I argued. "We aren't even allowed to be in relationships. Wizarding blood combined is too unpredictable."

"Then marry a noble, or something." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Just stop bothering me!"

I stormed out, sobbing. He followed me, and tried to hand me a bag of the stuff I'd left at his place. I refused. Most of the items had been gifts, little spelled items, like glow stones, to make his life easier. The rest he could throw out.

It took me a few tries to get the invisibility spell up again, upset as I was. But I managed long enough to get back into the castle and clean off my face so no one would know I'd been crying. Even if Dereck didn't love me anymore, I wasn't going to do anything to put him in danger.

I was so distracted, I almost didn't notice the demon until it was too late. It lunged at me out of the shadows, going for my throat. I just barely dodged in time. It sailed past me, and I whirled as it landed behind me.

This demon was in the form of a large black dog, with red eyes and unrealistically large claws and teeth. I recognized it. It was bound to Rhonia, one of Trevor's lackey's.
I tried to throw up a ward as it lunged again, but wards that kept out demons were hard to make on the fly. In fact, it was hard to make any spell affect a demon, unless you had it caught in a circle, or it was bound as your familiar. In the end I had to throw myself backwards onto the ground to avoid it. The impact with the hard flagstones knocked the beginning of the warding spell right out of my mind.

The demon twisted in midair to come down with its head by my throat. Its jaws opened...

I saw a stirring in the shadows as Rhonia peered out to watch her demon finish me off, and quickly threw a fireball. She was incinerated with a scream, and, as she died, so did the demon's link to the mortal realm. It could now be banished.

The demon turned as its master died, and grinned ferally at its newfound freedom, and beginning to shift back into its natural form, a thing with too many tentacles and teeth. I quickly said the banishing spell. Fortunately, it was much easier than a demon blocking ward. The demon vanished with a howl back into Hell.